


The Dust Settles

by Akifall



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M, Feelings, Major Character Injury, Minor Cersei Lannister/Jaime Lannister, Romance, Sibling Incest, Wishful Thinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-14
Updated: 2016-06-14
Packaged: 2018-07-15 00:29:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7197953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akifall/pseuds/Akifall
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wishful thinking for End Game </p><p>Brienne has been ordered to kill Jaime and Cersei in the RedKeep while the war for the Throne wagers on in Kings Landing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Honour

Brienne hadn’t wanted them to meet like this, swords drawn at one another and his sister smirking at her from where she sat, on the iron throne.  
“Lady Brienne.” Cersei mocked rising from the throne and taking a step past her brother who’s grip tightened. Brienne didn’t move as Cersei circled her and then stepped away chuckling; she approached Jaime and leaned up and kissed him on his lips, he passively let her without returning the same passion, his eyes on Brienne’s. 

“Did you really think he’d love you? Do you think he thinks of you when he fucks me?” She sneered, Brienne flinched and Jaime’s eyes flickered away from hers apologetically.  
A tense silence followed, Cersei smiling venomously at Brienne while she sipped from a goblet filled with wine; the muffled sounds of war behind those closed door as the remaining Starks and Targaryen’s clashed with the Lannister’s and Frey’s. The Baratheon banner dripping down from the ceilings was tattered compared to that of the Lannister’s banner- as though the lion had clawed at the Stag.

“Brienne… I beg of you- go back to Lady Sansa- I don’t want to fight you.” Jaime spoke, his voice breaking as he addressed her directly, eyes now back on hers. His eyes spoke of regret and sadness. Brienne shook her head, her blonde hair dancing across her brow as she pulled herself into a battle stance.  
“In the name of Sansa Stark, first of her name- I sentence both you, Jaime and Cersei of the house Lannister- to die.”  
Jaime smiled at her sadly and then stepped forward, their swords clashing against one another.  
Jaime brought his foot out and stabbed it against Brienne’s leg but she danced back and slashed at his face, drawing a thin cut against his cheek- he retaliated with a slash against her arm and they continued like this, trading blow for blow. 

Finally Jaime fell to the floor, holding up his sword to shield himself as Brienne clamped her Oathkeeper down onto his sword multiple times, eventually his broke in two and she drew her sword back and glanced down at him- her face red and her battle face softening as he kneeled his head down, offering his neck.  
She had bested him.  
And then Brienne let out a scream of pain.  
Jaime lifted his head up to see Oathkeeper fall to the floor as Cersei drew the dagger out of Brienne, Brienne collapsed as Cersei stabbed again at her gut, reaching desperately for her sword.  
And then suddenly the stabbing stopped, and Cersei began gurgling and choking as she held her own throat where blood cascaded down , her yellow perfect hair sticky with red- the true Lannister colours. 

As Brienne looked up, time froze. Jaime stood above Cersei, his eyes looked possessed and his face was twisted with rage, in his hand was Oathkeeper dripping at the tip with blood. Cersei reached for him, her mouth spelling out his name and then she collapsed to the floor bleeding out.  
Brienne thought Jaime would hold his beloved Sister as she died, but instead he turned to Brienne and brought her into his arms pressing down on the wound.  
He had picked her.  
Tears surfaced into her eyes and she reached out shakily and touched his face.  
And then unconscious followed.


	2. Icy Hearts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to add a second chapter 
> 
> That episode on Sunday got me rolling around in both glee and despair  
>  2 more episodes left! And then a year of waiting- now my watch begins 
> 
> Also I'm sorry if the characters seem OOC!

The Targaryen’s had won  
The Starks had marched on with icy fury  
Bringing down Lannister men, bearing banners with the names of their fallen family members.  
Daenerys watched on as her dragons burned half of King’s landing to cinders; Sansa Stark by her side passively watching on as her previous home was destroyed  
The battle was theirs.  
-  
Jaime held onto Brienne as her eyes slipped shut and her body slumped. The dagger wounds in her back were deep but not fatal; if anything Jaime’s biggest concern was the bleeding. He applied pressure and watched her blood run over his fingers- he cursed his golden hand as it weakened under the extra weight. He placed her down on the floor and quickly crawled over to his sister grasping hold of her dress and ripping part of it off; he then applied it to the deepest of Brienne’s wounds, successfully halting some of the blood flow.   
“Your tough your get through this.” He mumbled, not sure if to himself or to Brienne.  
He couldn’t think past saving Brienne. It hadn’t even occurred to him that he’d just taken his sister’s life; all he knew was that it was over and soon his life would be to.

The doors slammed open and Sansa, Jon Snow and Daenerys rushed in followed by guards. Jaime tightened his grip on Brienne as the unsullied pointed their spears at the two. Sansa stepped forth the moment she spotted her friend and Jon Snow drew his sword and followed his sister.   
“Unhand her Kingslayer.” Sansa sneered to which Jaime finally looked at her. He let out a choke as Brienne was taken from him and then as Sansa turned away he reached out for her dress causing her to stop. His shoulders slumped as she turned back to him, regarding him icily.   
“Please…” He whispered  
“If you’re begging for your life…”  
Jaime’s head shot up and Sansa was taken back by how vulnerable he looked.   
“Save her.” He finished.   
Sansa’s eyes widened. That went without saying; her best healers were already tending to her friends wounds.

“What happened to you?” Sansa asked quietly. A silence followed and Jaime finally looked back at the body of his sister. And then as though something clicked he grasped hold of OathKeeper and aimed it at his heart to where Jon Snow knocked the blade from his grasp.   
“I killed her. I killed my sister. I need to-I need to be with her, I need-“Jaime slammed his golden fist into the floor.   
“Why did I? Didn’t I love her? Didn’t I do this for her?” His golden fist deformed as he pummelled it into the ground.   
“He’s gone mad.” Jon Snow said as Jaime laughed manically at the irony of it all.   
Sansa and Daenerys regarded one another briefly. Tyrion had pleaded with the dragon queen to spare the life of his brother and while Daenerys told Tyrion that Jaime would not be harmed by her hand; Jon Snow and Sansa Stark had made no such promise. While Jon Snow didn’t particularly like Jaime he held no major hate for the kingslayer.

“His sentence is to be passed down by your hand, milady.” Jon offered Sansa.  
Sansa regarded Jaime. He had pushed her brother from a tower and yet without him Brienne wouldn’t have been there to save her from Ramsey’s wrath, Tyrion would be dead and they wouldn’t have been able to claim back the north.   
Either way, his role both caused and fixed many problems.   
“Put him in the blackest dungeons until I can figure out what to do with him.” Sansa decided.   
Two guards lifted Jaime from where he slumped and dragged him out; he made no move to resist them.   
“And the sister?” One of the guards asked. Sansa stared at the corpse of the woman who had tormented her throughout her years in Kingslanding   
“Cut her up and feed her to the dragons”


	3. Depth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is so OOC and basically me just shipping BriennexJaime sooooo hard 
> 
> So please excuse the poor writing!

_**Kingslayer!**_  
_“I love you brother”_  
_**Murderer**_  
_“I love everything about you brother.”_  
**_Betrayer_**  
_“Make love to me.”_

  
_That was the price of wanting acceptance. Cersei understood didn’t she…? All he wanted was to protect, he plunged his sword deep into his kings back and now everyone had turned their backs on him._  
_The first time he slept with her, his hate and rage for everyone that had looked at him in disgust, and hate and bitterness- channelled with his thrusts as he tarnished the very person that had always loved him. His eyes were emptying silent tears as she played with his hair in the afterglow, promising to protect him, he was her puppet… but this was the price of acceptance._  
_Soon after their first son was born_  
-  
As Jaime sat in the shadows, he wondered if he was even alive. At some point he must have drifted off because he kept seeing people appear, first Ned Stark who kneeled by him silently before his head rolled off his shoulders and Joffrey appeared carrying a book, sniggering at the pathetic site of his uncle.  
“Look at all these pages, all the great stories of past warriors. Oh look Jaime Lannister.” Joffrey turned the book to Jaime; ‘Kingslayer’ was all that was written down. Joffrey chuckled and stepped back into the dark.

  
People appeared before him, some mocking him- while others like Myrcella smiled at him and then slumped in his arms and died. Cersei finally stepped out, first as a child and then as an adult, she kissed him and held out her hand as blood ran down her neck.  
“NO!” He screamed as he awoke. The image of his sister disappeared in an instant and suddenly light was emitted from outside his cage, someone stood at the bars with a candle and on closer inspection he saw his brother.

  
“You look well.” Tyrion teased lightly, placing the candle between the bars and offering a flask of water to his elder brother. Jaime took it and greedily drank; Tyrion smiled gently and took back the flask when he was done. “I’m glad to see you alive at least.” Tyrion remarked.  
Jaime had so many questions but could not think of how to ask the more important ones without revealing his hand.  
“How long has it been?” He asked, the concept of time lost in this nightmare  
“Two weeks.” Tyrion responded back passing over some bread. Jaime took it and began chewing into it with haste, his hunger surfacing.  
“Queen Daenerys is to be crowned soon. I heard that Lady Sansa will be returning to Winterfell later that night.”  
Jaime visibly froze, he had thought to ask Tyrion the moment he saw him, but he felt conflicted. Didn’t Tyrion hate him for killing their sister despite the hate they held for one another? He glanced at his brother and saw only warmth and brotherly love.

  
“I met her you know. Not exactly beautiful but strong and loyal. Podrick speaks highly of her; I haven’t been able to get him away from her bedside. Tough as nails as that one… one has to wonder what she’d be like in b-“Jaime stood up, the chains on his arms rattling noisily in protest. Tyrion craned his head to look at his brother, free of Cersei this man was like a child taking shy steps into his first battleground.  
When Tyrion had met Lady Brienne, she had spoken softly of his brother like anything said was fragile and worth protecting. It was very unusual to hear a woman speak this way, but Brienne was a knight not a lady in anything but title; he approved warmly of her.  
“Is she, okay?” Jaime asked tenderly. They even spoke in the same manner, Tyrion smiled at how fierce they both were. He knew that Jaime grieved over Cersei, but the venom was to be drained and the cure was laid out before him.

  
“She misses you.” Tyrion answered honestly. Jaime fell silent, and for a moment Tyrion worried that he had pushed this too quickly. And then his brother’s face leaned further into the light and Jaime licked his lip and looked down at Tyrion.  
“When can I see her?” He asked softly, Tyrion sighed and then leaned his back against the bars.  
“That depends on what your intentions are.” He answered back  
“Sansa Stark has decided that you are to be freed on one of the conditions. You can take the black, and live your life as a member of the Night’s watch, you can remain in this prison cell- or you can marry into a house of the Starks choosing, serving under the seven kingdoms and swearing upmost loyalty to the North”  
Jaime slumped to the floor, he felt like his chest was being squeezed.  
“If I marry… will I be able to see her just for a moment?” He asked.  
“You don’t care to know which house?” Tyrion asked; Jaime shook his head and Tyrion smiled.  
“I shall escort you to Lady Brienne. Although, unfortunately the chains will have to remain.”  
-  
Brienne much to her dismay was given one of the best rooms of the castle, she was so used to sleeping outside or in shabby beds that it had taken her quite some time before she was able to sleep somewhat comfortably. She had a window facing the ocean, it reminded her of home and how she would look out and wish she could travel. Oh how she longed to see the crystal clear water, and to embrace her father once more.  
For many days, Podrick had remained in the chair by the window, watching over her protectively. Oathkeeper was laid down by her by Sansa Stark who had visited her the moment she woke up.  
“You have shown loyalty to both me and my mother, this sword shall remain with you as a token of our friendship, and its sister will be returned to Winterfell. You have brought great honour to the Tarth family and you will always be welcome at House Stark.” Brienne was then pulled into a hug from Sansa, who was finally free of so many burdens.

  
Near the end of the second week, she had met Tyrion Lannister and safe to say she had enjoyed speaking with him. He was brutally honest, but kind and charming- she decided that she found his company interesting and he had smiled at her honestly and before exiting the room he turned to her and said “I like you!” and Brienne had laughed.  
She had enjoyed the company of the youngest of the three Lannister siblings but she yearned to see Jaime, and she got her wish just a day after Tyrion’s visit.

  
It was awkward, seeing Jaime. He looked tired and unfed but strong with a sense of purpose. She was well fed, but weak with injury. She stared at him without saying anything, and he looked down on her with an emotion that she could not decipher.  
After a few tense minutes she tried to get up and hissed as pain raced from her wound, Jaime put his hand over her arm and ceased her movement.  
“Don’t.” He said, he turned her palm in his hand and began to trace the lines on her palm.  
“I once met a woman that claimed she could read the future by tracing the lines on your palm. The paths, journeys, the lovers, and the losses you would have.” His finger ran across a single line on her palm and his eyes met hers.  
“I wanted to be one of your lines.” He confessed, and then he retraced the line again.  
“This one.”  
Brienne’s face flushed and she tried to move her hand from his, but his fingers rested over hers.  
“I wanted you to know… I was told I wouldn’t be allowed to see you if I didn’t marry. I didn’t know, until Cersei… I didn’t know that I wanted an ‘us’ Brienne.” He told her gently, and her heart hammered in her chest and her eyes filled with tears.  
He reached for her face and wiped them as they fell, resting their foreheads together. He breathed in her air and closed his eyes.  
“If I’d only seen what could have been was better than what was. It would have been you. You have my heart.” He confessed and he embraced her gently- wanting to close the distance between them but holding back.

  
**_Are you sure you’re not a Lannister?_**  
-  
At least it was sunny, Jaime thought as he stared up at the sky. He glanced out at the ocean and sighed, endless days on the water to a new life where he was to start afresh with a woman he’d never met. They were expected to have children, and he was to take her last name and completely eradicate all ties to the Lannister family name. He wasn’t even sure if he’d ever seen his little brother again but he knew his brother loved him enough to make the journey.

  
“Ser Jaime?” A familiar voice called to him, and he turned to see Brienne; her golden hair dancing in the wind.  
“Lady Brienne?” He questioned. She looked different without her armor, he’d seen her in a tunic before, but this one was more casual and light.  
“Why are you here?” He asked her, she smiled and showed him a case storing her armor and a few other pieces.  
“I’m returning home. It’s been awhile.” She replied. The two fell silent, sitting together on the pier. They dangled their legs in the water and spoke of the past and if Brienne noticed he looked at her as she spoke she didn’t comment. As the boat bearing the Tarth’s crest came to dock, Jaime pulled her towards him and embraced her tight.

  
“For a moment.” He said  
“Just for a moment.” She replied.  
He turned her to him and leaned in to taste her lips, but she averted her head.  
“I want- I want to protect this.” She answered. He knew that their relationship wasn’t allowed to further blossom, no matter how he ached for it. She wanted to protect this, remind him that he was good and was someone capable of being loved.  
He had to let her go.  
-  
Jaime stared out at the boat, it would be a couple of hours before the main boat left for the Sapphire Isle and he would wait until it went.  
He couldn't do it... marry someone he didn't love, he would go back to take the black; he knew that his swordsmanship would guarantee a life  much more fitting than a martial life style. He wondered if they would meet again but the chances are they wouldn’t.

“You’re still here?!”  
Jaime turned to his brother who was approaching him with frown.  
Jaime regarded his brother with confusion.  
“Am I not allowed to say farewell?” He asked. Tyrion groaned and then with a battle cry he rushed at his brother pushing him into ocean.  
“I give one order to Bronn; go to the pier, deliver the letter, and he’s probably drinking the coin away as I speak!” Tyrion cried. Jaime glared at his brother as he broke surface. Tyrion stepped on his fingers as he reached up.  
“Swim you idiot!” Tyrion yelled  
“Swim where?” He asked, to which Tyrion pointed straight to the boat.  
“To your wife”  
-  
The swim took longer than to be expected, and when he finally climbed onto the boat he almost collapsed in exhaustion. As soon as he caught his breathe he looked around for Brienne, when he couldn’t find her he pushed people aside and climbed below. Much to the protests of the Tarth Guards, he threw himself at the fanciest door he could find and found Brienne lead across a bed, Oathkeeper tucked to her chest.

  
“Ser Jai-“Jaime was upon her, pressing their lips together before she could protest. She pushed against him, and he pulled back breathing heavily.  
“Jaime?” She enquired, and he brought her hand to his, drawing a ring on her palm.  
“Marry me.” He demanded.  
Her eyes widened in surprise, and then she embraced him clinging to him as they searched each other’s eyes, his smile dazzling as she blinked back.

  
“Lady Tarth?” A guard enquired, and she flushed when she realized they had an audience. Half a dozen spears were being pointed at Jaime but he hadn’t even noticed. She waved the guards off, face darkening as one of the guards gave her a thumbs up before closing the door.

  
“You’re an idiot.” She chuckled, he gasped in feigned hurt and then reached up to cup her cheek, he brought their lips together again to which she turned redder.  
“You’re adorable.” He teased back, kissing her palm.  
“Shut up.”  
“Like a little lobster.” He continued  
“Shut up.”  
“An adorable little lobster. “  
“That’s it the weddings off.” She announced. Jaime nuzzled into her happily.  
“You’re no fun.” He sighed and then he kissed her again; as they kissed she rolled them over so that was above him.  
Gazing into her ocean eyes Jaime found himself lost in their depths.  
“I think I like it better like this.” He grinned.  
-  
“So where’s this ship heading then?” Bron asked  
“The Iron Islands.” The guard responded  
“Shit I’m on the wrong bloody ship!”  
-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I rushed the end I suck. I'm a sucker for a happy ending though. And at the end I wanted it to feel like Jaime had gone back to how he was with Brienne when they were traveling, he seemed happy when he was teasing her. 
> 
> Also the first part is just a theory I have on how manipulative Cersei was with Jaime. Everyone turned their back on him and she was the only one who he felt understood, so she played with the deep bond they have and twisted it into what she wanted- which is why he think he has to stay devoted to her. I don't like Cersei at all, and seeing Jaime with Brienne shows what he could of been if she hadn't messed with his head and heart. (Although this is of course is just a theory but it's obvious that it's okay for Cersei to sleep with other people but Jaime can't)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so sorry if I've incorrectly assumed that the Starks and Taragaryen's would fight together against the Lannisters.


End file.
